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Draoidh Valley
The Draoidh Valley is the westernmost region of Duilintinn, sitting on the very edge of the Western Forest. Ecology Due to its low elevation, multiple rivers flowing into it, and Loch Glas itself, the Draoidh Valley is very, very swampy and humid. Indeed, a heavy morning fog falls consistently upon the entire region during the warmer months. However, instead of swampland, the land in House Marvin is something… different. Due to what can only be assumed is the magic coming from the Western Forest, plantlife grows insanely quickly in the Draoidh valley. Everything is ridiculously green and colorful, and most of the swampland is covered by a carpet of grasses and ferns. The only reason why House Marvin can’t use this natural explosion for agriculture is that the weeds will outgrow any crops they attempt to plant! The plants native to the region often have magical properties and are used in a variety of potions, drinks, and medicines, so most agricultural pursuits in House Marvin revolve more around hunting and gathering this magical flora and fauna than actual agriculture. No one can quite agree on if the insane greenery and growth in the Draoidh Valley is a blessing or a curse, but it certainly is fascinating. Between that and the Western Forest, it’s no wonder that the region attracts experimenters of both magical and non-magical pursuits. Name Origin Draoidh means “druid,” in reference to the myriad of strange and fascinating natural phenomena that take place in this valley. Since most people just call the region “House Marvin,” this name is usually only used when talking about the ecological, geographic, and any other nature-sciency stuff that happens here. Travel There are a total of three ways to get out of the Draoidh Valley: cross the Agrona Bridge, sail across Loch Glas, or attempt to cut through the Western Forest. The Agrona Bridge is where the road (brown line) crosses the river near its source, all the way up north next to the Agrona Bastion, hence the name. Loch Glas is a bit less simple, but far more convenient for southern travelers. Monacoil has a harbor that sends boats to a similar harbor on the opposite side of the lake (badly-drawn-brown-boats). They’ve been doing it now for decades, so transporting things like horses or carts full of cargo is standard procedure. Finally, you could cut through the Western Forest to the Gáire Roosts. It’s in red instead of brown because it’s not nearly as “official” compared to the other routes. There is no road here, and you’ll be fording two rivers, traveling straight through the forest, and climbing in elevation the entire trip. However, it is technically faster. On horseback, it takes less than three days to get to the Roosts from Monacoil or vice versa (the downhill is not your friend in the mountains, sorry) taking the off-road route, but three to four days to get there via the lake crossing and roads. However, this calculation assumes that the dangerous conditions of the off-road route don’t cause some sort of injury or delay to slow you down… which they probably will. That being said, if you want to avoid passing through Monacoil for whatever reason, this would be an alternative way into or out of the valley.